Sample records for wind farm holt

DOE’s Western Area Power Administration prepared an EIS to evaluate the environmental impacts of interconnecting the proposed Grande Prairie WindFarm, in Holt County, near O’Neill, Nebraska, to Western’s power transmission system.

An approach to windfarm design using variable speed wind turbines with low pulse number electrical output. The output of multiple wind turbines are aggregated to create a high pulse number electrical output at a point of common coupling with a utility grid network. Power quality at each individual wind turbine falls short of utility standards, but the aggregated output at the point of common coupling is within acceptable tolerances for utility power quality. The approach for aggregating low pulse number electrical output from multiple wind turbines relies upon a pad mounted transformer at each wind turbine that performs phase multiplication on the output of each wind turbine. Phase multiplication converts a modified square wave from the wind turbine into a 6 pulse output. Phase shifting of the 6 pulse output from each wind turbine allows the aggregated output of multiple wind turbines to be a 24 pulse approximation of a sine wave. Additional filtering and VAR control is embedded within the windfarm to take advantage of the windfarm's electrical impedence characteristics to further enhance power quality at the point of common coupling.

On April 21, 2011, an Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Land Use Committee meeting was convened to develop a windfarm recommendation for the Executive Council and a list of proposed actions for proceeding with the recommendation. In terms of land use, the INL Land Use Committee unanimously agrees that Site 6 is the preferred location of the alternatives presented for an INL windfarm. However, further studies and resolution to questions raised (stated in this report) by the INL Land Use Committee are needed for the preferred location. Studies include, but are not limited to, wind viability (6 months), bats (2 years), and the visual impact of the windfarm. In addition, cultural resource surveys and consultation (1 month) and the National Environmental Policy Act process (9 to 12 months) need to be completed. Furthermore, there is no documented evidence of developers expressing interest in constructing a small windfarm on INL, nor a specific list of expectations or concessions for which a developer might expect INL to cover the cost. To date, INL assumes the National Environmental Policy Act activities will be paid for by the Department of Energy and INL (the environmental assessment has only received partial funding). However, other concessions also may be expected by developers such as roads, fencing, power line installation, tie-ins to substations, annual maintenance, snow removal, access control, down-time, and remediation. These types of concessions have not been documented, as a request, from a developer and INL has not identified the short and long-term cost liabilities for such concessions should a developer expect INL to cover these costs. INL has not identified a go-no-go funding level or the priority this WindFarm Project might have with respect to other nuclear-related projects, should the windfarm remain an unfunded mandate. The Land Use Committee recommends Legal be consulted to determine what, if any, liabilities exist with the WindFarm Project and

In some areas, wind power has reached a level where it begins to impact grid operation and the stability of local utilities. In this paper, the model development for a large windfarm will be presented. Windfarm dynamic behavior and contribution to stability during transmission system faults will be examined.

The INL WindFarm project proposes to install a 20 MW to 40 MW windfarm on government property, consisting of approximately ten to twenty full-sized (80-meter hub height) towers with 2 MW turbines, and access roads. This includes identifying the optimal turbine locations, building access roads, and pouring the tower foundations in preparation for turbine installation. The project successfully identified a location on INL lands with commercially viable wind resources (i.e., greater than 11 mph sustained winds) for a 20 to 40 MW windfarm. Additionally, the proposed WindFarm was evaluated against other General Plant Projects, General Purpose Capital Equipment projects, and Line Item Construction Projects at the INL to show the relative importance of the proposed WindFarm project.

Western Area Power Administration (Western) prepared an EA that analyzes the potential environmental impacts of the proposed Summit WindFarm, a proposed 99-MW windfarm south of Summit, South Dakota. The proposed windfarm would interconnect to Western’s existing transmission line within the footprint of the windfarm. .

Wind energy resources are abundant in China, in southeast coast area along with the rapid economic growth, electricity demand has been sharply increased, due to complex terrain detailed assessments are in urgent need. Advanced methodology and computer model should be developed. In this paper the existing windfarms, installed capacity, manufacturers share and projects in the near future are presented. For further development of windfarm in large scale, different ways of local manufacturing wind turbine generators (WTG) are going on. Current policy and barriers are analyzed. 4 refs., 2 figs., 4 tabs.

Scaled WindFarm Technology (SWiFT) facility is located at Texas Tech University's National Wind Institute Research Center in Lubbock, Texas. SWiFT is the principal facility for investigating wind turbine wakes as part of the U.S. Department of Energy Atmosphere to Electrons research initiative (DOE-A2e). The SWiFT facility supports A2e's goal of ensuring that future windfarms are sited, built, and operated to produce the most cost-effective and usable electric power possible, given

A wind turbine wake study was conducted in the summer of 1987 at an Altamont Pass wind electric generating facility. The wind speed deficits, turbulence, and power deficits from an array consisting of several rows of wind turbines is discussed. A total of nine different test configurations were evaluated for a downwind spacing ranging from 7 rotor diameters (RD) to 34 RD and a cross wind spacing of 1.3 RD and 2.7 RD. Wake power deficits of 15% were measured at 16 RD and power losses of a few percent were even measurable at 27 RD for the closer cross wind spacing. For several rows of turbines separated by 7-9 RD the wake zones overlapped and formed compound wakes with higher velocity deficits. The wind speed and direction turbulence in the wake was much higher than the ambient turbulence. The results from this study are compared to the findings from other similar field measurements.

More wind energy capacity was installed in 1995 than in any previous year. Two markets, Germany and India, accounted for nearly two-thirds of those installations, while the largest single market in the world historically, the US, ground nearly to a halt. Market supports in Germany and India, however, are vulnerable to political forces largely beyond the control of the wind industry. This paper examines the growth of international windfarm markets worldwide and notes that future markets will be more broadly based, leaving the industry less vulnerable to political changes. The paper also concludes that an additional 18,500 MW could be installed by the year 2005 even without assuming a dire ecological scenario that would create environmental drivers to accelerate wind market growth. 4 figs.

Farm Growth Through the Years WindFarm Growth Through the Years August 6, 2013 - 8:32am Addthis 1975 Start Slow Stop Year WindFarms Homes Powered Added Current Year 833 WindFarms Online. Enough to Power 15 M Homes Data provided by the EIA. The number of homes powered is estimated through conversion factors provided by the EIA. Daniel Wood Daniel Wood Data Visualization and Cartographic Specialist, Office of Public Affairs As we publish the 2012 Wind Technologies Market Report, we are excited

NREL researchers have used high-tech instruments and high-performance computing to understand atmospheric turbulence and turbine wake behavior in order to improve wind turbine design and siting within windfarms.

Technology Hybrids Show Best Potential | Department of Energy PNNL Reviews Wildlife-Interaction Monitoring for Offshore WindFarms - Technology Hybrids Show Best Potential PNNL Reviews Wildlife-Interaction Monitoring for Offshore WindFarms - Technology Hybrids Show Best Potential February 24, 2012 - 11:30am Addthis This is an excerpt from the First Quarter 2012 edition of the Wind Program R&D Newsletter. Adding offshore wind to the U.S. renewable energy portfolio promises access to a

In this paper a fault detection system and a fault tolerant controller for a windfarm model. The windfarm model used is the one proposed as a public challenge. In the model three types of faults are introduced to a windfarm consisting of nine turbines. A fault detection system designed, by taking advantage of the fact that within a windfarm several wind turbines will be operating under all most identical conditions. The turbines are then grouped, and then turbines within each group are used to generate residuals for turbines in the group. The generated residuals are then evaluated using dynamical cumulative sum. The designed fault detection system is cable of detecting all three fault types occurring in the model. But there is room for improving the fault detection in some areas. To take advantage of the fault detection system a fault tolerant controller for the windfarm has been designed. The fault tolerant controller is a dispatch controller which is estimating the possible power at each individual turbine and then setting the reference accordingly. The fault tolerant controller has been compared to a reference controller. And the comparison shows that the fault tolerant controller performance better in all measures. The fault detection and a fault tolerant controller has been designed, and based on the simulated results the overall performance of the windfarm is improved on all measures. Thereby this is a step towards improving the overall performance of current and future windfarms.

National Nuclear Security Administration | (NNSA) Windfarm generating more renewable energy than expected for Pantex Friday, April 22, 2016 - 10:30am Each of the five wind turbines at the Pantex Plant is 400 feet tall. They have generated 3 percent more electricity than was expected. The Texas Panhandle has some of the world's best winds for creating renewable energy, and the WindFarm at the Pantex Plant is taking advantage of those winds, generating up to 60% of the energy needs of the

Capabilities | Department of Energy Develops Extreme-Scale WindFarm Simulation Capabilities Argonne National Laboratory Develops Extreme-Scale WindFarm Simulation Capabilities October 1, 2013 - 3:42pm Addthis A wake of a wind turbine modeled by the actuator line model in Nek5000 A wake of a wind turbine modeled by the actuator line model in Nek5000 This is an excerpt from the Third Quarter 2013 edition of the Wind Program R&D Newsletter. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's

Studies WindFarm Aerodynamics to Improve Siting NREL researchers are using advanced remote sensing instruments and high- performance computing to understand atmospheric turbulence and turbine wake behavior-a key to improving wind turbine design and siting within windfarms. As turbines and windfarms grow in size, they create bigger wakes and present more complex challenges to wind turbine and windfarm designers and operators. NREL researchers have confirmed through both observation and

DOE’s Western Area Power Administration (Western) prepared an EA that analyzes the potential environmental impacts of a proposal to interconnect, via a proposed new substation, a proposed Dakota Plains Energy, LLC, 99-megawatt windfarm near Pollock, South Dakota, to Western’s existing transmission line at that location.

Martin Holt Scientist, Nanoscience Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign Current research activity focuses on the use of nanoscale X-ray diffraction microscopy as a probe of local structural physics in materials. This is associated with multiple related areas: observation of nanoscale phase phenomena in active materials, observation of unique material behavior of nanoscale objects, and observation of emergent critical dynamics in engineered mesoscale material systems Telephone

The collocation of cropland and wind turbines in the US Midwest region introduces complex meteorological interactions that could influence both agriculture and wind-power production. Crop management practices may affect the wind resource through alterations of land-surface properties. We use the weather research and forecasting (WRF) model to estimate the impact of crop height variations on the wind resource in the presence of a large turbine array. A hypothetical windfarm consisting of 121 1.8-MW turbines is represented using the WRF model wind-farm parametrization. We represent the impact of selecting soybeans rather than maize by altering the aerodynamic roughness length in a region approximately 65 times larger than that occupied by the turbine array. Roughness lengths of 0.1 and 0.25 m represent the mature soy crop and a mature maize crop, respectively. In all but the most stable atmospheric conditions, statistically significant hub-height wind-speed increases and rotor-layer wind-shear reductions result from switching from maize to soybeans. Based on simulations for the entire month of August 2013, wind-farm energy output increases by 14 %, which would yield a significant monetary gain. Further investigation is required to determine the optimal size, shape, and crop height of the roughness modification to maximize the economic benefit and minimize the cost of such crop-management practices. As a result, these considerations must be balanced by other influences on crop choice such as soil requirements and commodity prices.

Primus Power Corporation Wind Firming EnergyFarm (tm) Project Description Primus Power is deploying a 25MW/75MWh EnergyFarm(tm) in the Modesto Irrigation District (MID) in California' central valley that consists of an array of 250kW EnergyPods(tm); plug-and-play zinc-flow battery modules and power electronics systems housed inside ISO shipping containers. The modular design and operation will be field tested at Pacific Gas & Electric with support from Sandia National Laboratories and the

Voltage, frequency, active power and reactive power are very important parameters in terms of power quality. These parameters are followed when connecting any power plant, the more the connection of windfarms. Connecting windfarms to the electricity system must not cause interference outside the limits set by regulations. Modern solutions for fast and automatic voltage control and power fluctuations using electronic control systems of reactive power flows. FACTS (Flexible Alternating Current Transmision System) systems, established on the basis of power electronic circuits ensure control of electrical status quantities to achieve the necessary transfer of power to the power grid. FACTS devices can quickly control parameters and sizes of state power lines, such as impedance line voltages and phase angles of the voltages of the two ends of the line. Their use can lead to improvement in power system operation by increasing the transmission capacity of power lines, power flow control lines, improved static and transient stability reserve.

Several studies are undertaken in R&D Division of EDF in collaboration with ERASME association in order to have a good knowledge of the wind energy production costs. These studies are performed in the framework of a wind energy monitoring project and concern the influence of a few parameters like windfarm capacity, turbine size and wind speed on production costs, through an analysis of the actual market trend. Some 50 manufacturers and 140 different kind of wind turbines are considered for this study. The minimum production cost is situated at 800/900 kW wind turbine rated power. This point will probably move to more important powers in the future. This study is valid only for average conditions and some special parameters like particular climate conditions or lack of infrastructure for a special site the could modify the results shown on the curves. The variety of wind turbines (rated power as a function of rotor diameter, height and specific rated power) in the actual market is analyzed. A brief analysis of the market trend is also performed. 7 refs., 7 figs.

The collocation of cropland and wind turbines in the US Midwest region introduces complex meteorological interactions that could influence both agriculture and wind-power production. Crop management practices may affect the wind resource through alterations of land-surface properties. We use the weather research and forecasting (WRF) model to estimate the impact of crop height variations on the wind resource in the presence of a large turbine array. A hypothetical windfarm consisting of 121 1.8-MW turbines is represented using the WRF model wind-farm parametrization. We represent the impact of selecting soybeans rather than maize by altering the aerodynamic roughness length inmore » a region approximately 65 times larger than that occupied by the turbine array. Roughness lengths of 0.1 and 0.25 m represent the mature soy crop and a mature maize crop, respectively. In all but the most stable atmospheric conditions, statistically significant hub-height wind-speed increases and rotor-layer wind-shear reductions result from switching from maize to soybeans. Based on simulations for the entire month of August 2013, wind-farm energy output increases by 14 %, which would yield a significant monetary gain. Further investigation is required to determine the optimal size, shape, and crop height of the roughness modification to maximize the economic benefit and minimize the cost of such crop-management practices. As a result, these considerations must be balanced by other influences on crop choice such as soil requirements and commodity prices.« less

Technologies, Inc. | National Nuclear Security Administration | (NNSA) Contract for Largest Federal WindFarm to Siemens Government Technologies, Inc. January 15, 2013 The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has awarded a contract to Siemens Government Technologies, Inc., (Siemens) to construct and operate the federal government's largest windfarm. The Pantex windfarm, a first in the NNSA enterprise, will consist of five 2.3 megawatt turbines located on 1,500 acres of

Department of Energy Caithness Shephards Flat: The Largest WindFarm Project in the World Caithness Shephards Flat: The Largest WindFarm Project in the World October 12, 2010 - 5:04pm Addthis Andy Oare Andy Oare Former New Media Strategist, Office of Public Affairs What does this project do? Windfarm project is projected to employ over 400 people in construction phase. It is expected to produce 845 megawatt wind-powered electrical generation, or enough wind energy to supply 235,000 homes.

Energy 2016: Willow Creek WindFarm; Butte County, South Dakota EA-2016: Willow Creek WindFarm; Butte County, South Dakota SUMMARY DOE's Western Area Power Administration is preparing an EA that analyzes the potential environmental impacts of the proposed Willow Creek Wind Energy Facility in Butte County, South Dakota. The EA reviews the potential environmental impacts of constructing, operating, and maintaining a 103-megawatt (MW) nameplate capacity wind power generating facility

CgWind is a high-fidelity large eddy simulation (LES) tool designed to meet the modeling needs of wind turbine and wind park engineers. This tool combines several advanced computational technologies in order to model accurately the complex and dynamic nature of wind energy applications. The composite grid approach provides high-quality structured grids for the efficient implementation of high-order accurate discretizations of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. Composite grids also provide a natural mechanism for modeling bodies in relative motion and complex geometry. Advanced algorithms such as matrix-free multigrid, compact discretizations and approximate factorization will allow CgWind to perform highly resolved calculations efficiently on a wide class of computing resources. Also in development are nonlinear LES subgrid-scale models required to simulate the many interacting scales present in large wind turbine applications. This paper outlines our approach, the current status of CgWind and future development plans.

Progress report on defining and determining monitoring and mitigation measures for protecting North Atlantic Right Whales from the effects of pile driving and other activities associated with installation of offshore windfarms.

After the applicant withdrew its request to interconnect the proposed Hermosa West WindFarm Project with Western Area Power Administration’s transmission system, Western cancelled preparation of an EIS to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of the proposal.

High-resolution large-eddy simulation of the flow over a large windfarm (64 wind turbines) is performed using the HIGRAD/FIRETEC-WindBlade model, which is a high-performance computing wind turbine–atmosphere interaction model that uses the Lagrangian actuator line method to represent rotating turbine blades. These high-resolution large-eddy simulation results are used to parameterize the thrust and power coefficients that contain information about turbine interference effects within the windfarm. Those coefficients are then incorporated into the WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) model in order to evaluate interference effects in larger-scale models. In the high-resolution WindBlade windfarm simulation, insufficient distance between turbines creates the interference between turbines, including significant vertical variations in momentum and turbulent intensity. The characteristics of the wake are further investigated by analyzing the distribution of the vorticity and turbulent intensity. Quadrant analysis in the turbine and post-turbine areas reveals that the ejection motion induced by the presence of the wind turbines is dominant compared to that in the other quadrants, indicating that the sweep motion is increased at the location where strong wake recovery occurs. Regional-scale WRF simulations reveal that although the turbulent mixing induced by the windfarm is partly diffused to the upper region, there is no significant change in the boundary layer depth. The velocity deficit does not appear to be very sensitive to the local distribution of turbine coefficients. However, differences of about 5% on parameterized turbulent kinetic energy were found depending on the turbine coefficient distribution. Furthermore, turbine coefficients that consider interference in the windfarm should be used in windfarm parameterization for larger-scale models to better describe sub-grid scale turbulent processes.

High-resolution large-eddy simulation of the flow over a large windfarm (64 wind turbines) is performed using the HIGRAD/FIRETEC-WindBlade model, which is a high-performance computing wind turbine–atmosphere interaction model that uses the Lagrangian actuator line method to represent rotating turbine blades. These high-resolution large-eddy simulation results are used to parameterize the thrust and power coefficients that contain information about turbine interference effects within the windfarm. Those coefficients are then incorporated into the WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) model in order to evaluate interference effects in larger-scale models. In the high-resolution WindBlade windfarm simulation, insufficient distance between turbines createsmore » the interference between turbines, including significant vertical variations in momentum and turbulent intensity. The characteristics of the wake are further investigated by analyzing the distribution of the vorticity and turbulent intensity. Quadrant analysis in the turbine and post-turbine areas reveals that the ejection motion induced by the presence of the wind turbines is dominant compared to that in the other quadrants, indicating that the sweep motion is increased at the location where strong wake recovery occurs. Regional-scale WRF simulations reveal that although the turbulent mixing induced by the windfarm is partly diffused to the upper region, there is no significant change in the boundary layer depth. The velocity deficit does not appear to be very sensitive to the local distribution of turbine coefficients. However, differences of about 5% on parameterized turbulent kinetic energy were found depending on the turbine coefficient distribution. Furthermore, turbine coefficients that consider interference in the windfarm should be used in windfarm parameterization for larger-scale models to better describe sub-grid scale turbulent processes.« less

Wind power has emerged as an attractive alternative source of electricity for utilities. Turbine operating experience from windfarms has provided corroborating data of wind power potential for electric utility application. Now, a patented modular wind power technology, the Toroidal Accelerator Rotor Platform (TARP{trademark}) Windframe{trademark}, forms the basis for next generation megawatt scale windfarm and/or distributed wind power plants. When arranged in tall vertically clustered TARP{trademark} module stacks, such power plant units are designated Wind Amplified Rotor Platform (WARP{trademark}) Systems. While heavily building on proven technology, these systems are projected to surpass current technology windmills in terms of performance, user-friendly operation and ease of maintenance. In its unique generation and transmission configuration, the WARP{trademark}-GT System combines both electricity generation through wind energy conversion and electric power transmission. Furthermore, environmental benefits include dramatically less land requirement, architectural appearance, lower noise and EMI/TV interference, and virtual elimination of bird mortality potential. Cost-of-energy (COE) is projected to be from under $0.02/kWh to less than $0.05/kWh in good to moderate wind resource sites.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) began a project to collect wind power plant output data from several large commercial wind plants during the spring of 2000. This data is summarized in this report.

In response to federal mandates and incentives for renewable energy, Sandia National Laboratories conducted a feasibility study of installing an on-site windfarm on Sandia National Laboratories and Kirtland Air Force Base property. This report describes this preliminary analysis of the costs and benefits of installing and operating a 15-turbine, 30-MW-capacity windfarm that delivers an estimated 16 percent of 2010 onsite demand. The report first describes market and non-market economic costs and benefits associated with operating a windfarm, and then uses a standard life-cycle costing and benefit-cost framework to estimate the costs and benefits of a windfarm. Based on these 'best-estimates' of costs and benefits and on factor, uncertainty and sensitivity analysis, the analysis results suggest that the benefits of a Sandia windfarm are greater than its costs. The analysis techniques used herein are applicable to the economic assessment of most if not all forms of renewable energy.

Installing a small wind turbine can sometimes be challenging due to economics, zoning issues, public perception, and other barriers. Persistence and innovation, however, can result in a successful installation. Dani Baker and David Belding own Cross Island Farms, a 102-acre certified organic farm on Wellesley Island in northern New York. In 2009, they took their interest in renewable energy to the next level by researching the logistics of a small wind installation on their land to make their farm even more sustainable. Their renewable energy system consists of one 10-kilowatt Bergey Excel wind turbine, a solar array, and a propane-powered generator. This case study describes funding for the project and the installation process.

Installing a small wind turbine can sometimes be difficult due to economics, zoning issues, public perception, and other barriers. Persistence and innovation, however, can result in a successful installation. Dani Baker and David Belding own Cross Island Farms, a 102-acre certified organic farm on Wellesley Island in northern New York. In 2009, they took their interest in renewable energy to the next level by researching the logistics of a small wind installation on their land to make their farm even more sustainable. Their renewable energy system consists of one 10-kilowatt Bergey Excel wind turbine, a solar array, and a propane-powered generator. This case study describes funding for the project and the installation process.

The goal of our FY15 project was to explore the use of statistical models and high-resolution atmospheric input data to develop more accurate prediction models for turbine power generation. We modeled power for two operational windfarms in two regions of the country. The first site is a 235 MW windfarm in Northern Oklahoma with 140 GE 1.68 turbines. Our second site is a 38 MW windfarm in the Altamont Pass Region of Northern California with 38 Mitsubishi 1 MW turbines. The farms are very different in topography, climatology, and turbine technology; however, both occupy high wind resource areas in the U.S. and are representative of typical windfarms found in their respective areas.